Supervisors warn of tough times at swearing in ceremony

San Diego County Supervisors Bill Horn and Ron Roberts warned Tuesday that tough times were ahead, as they and other elected officials took their oaths of office Tuesday.

"We have a difficult future ahead of us,'' said Horn, who was later named the chairman of the body. "I'm sure it will take more than one year to get out this, but the state of California has a big hole to climb out of."

Horn and Roberts were re-elected in November after becoming the first supervisor incumbents in 12 years to be forced into a runoff.

"We have a lot of challenges ahead of us, and we're going to face those as we have the past 15 years," Roberts said.

He promised that pain for county residents would be kept to a minimum.

San Diego County, like other governments, are battling budget shortfalls because of the poor economy and fiscal troubles with the state of California, which directs tax revenues to local agencies.

The makeup of the board has been unchanged since 1995. In June, voters passed a term limits proposition that will limit supervisors to two terms, beginning now.

Other elected and re-elected county officials who were sworn-in were District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, Sheriff Bill Gore, Assessor/Recorder/Clerk Ernest Dronenburg and Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister.

Gore, who was appointed to succeed Bill Kolender in 2009 and elected to the job in June, noted 2010's turbulence with the kidnapping and killing of Chelsea King, the discovery of the body of Amber Dubois, the death of Deputy Ken Collier — who died after his patrol car crashed during a chase on state Route 52 — and the burning down of a house full of homemade explosives.

"This department never missed a beat," Gore said. "They rose to every challenge."